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Operational detail
4.
section 4.5 |
appendix 1
Context and process
Contents
4.
Operational detail
156
4.5

Background papers and authors 190
List of papers and their authors
190
Current uses
190
Legal aspects
191
Ethical issues
191
Public perceptions
191
Maori aspects
191
Environmental aspects
192
Economics
192
Human health aspects
193
The international aspects of genetic modification
193
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4.5 Background papers and
authors
The background papers were prepared at the request of the Commission at the
outset of its inquiry to help provide an initial understanding of the topics that fell
within its scope, an awareness of some of the potential issues that the inquiry
would evoke, and information on the various topics that were the subject of the
inquiry.
In planning these papers, the topic of genetic modification was divided into nine
areas, representing different aspects of the inquiry as defined by the Commission's
Warrant. Authors were asked to outline the current situation, practices or status
with regard to genetic modification and the topic of their paper. They were asked
to note areas of uncertainty, knowledge gaps, and varying perspectives about the
effects or value of genetic modification, and to describe trends and likely future
developments. The authors were also asked to provide a list of questions and issues
to be considered during the course of the inquiry, and those were carried forward
into the Public Scoping days held in Wellington on 7­9 August.
Having received the papers, the Commission invited peer reviews where it was felt
alternative perspectives might need to be canvassed. Neither the papers nor the
reviews reflected or indicated the Commission's viewpoint at the time. Copies of
these papers were placed on the Commission website.
List of papers and their authors
Current uses
Professor A.R. Bellamy MSc, PhD, FRSNZ
Dick Bellamy is Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology and Director of the
School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. His initial degree was
in Botany and his PhD in Microbiology. Dick's research interest centres on human
viruses, particularly rotavirus, a virus responsible for gastroenteritis in young
children. A research project currently under way in his laboratory involves the use
of genetically modified plants to express viral proteins for vaccine production.
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Legal aspects
Helen Atkins
Helen Atkins is a partner in the Wellington office of Phillips Fox, Lawyers. Helen
has specialised in public, environmental, resource management and local
government law for 10 years. Helen has been involved in the Hazardous
Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) legislation process since the early days
when she was on secondment to the Ministry for the Environment in 1993­1995.
Helen has been involved in hearings in front of the Environmental Risk
Management Authority (ERMA) in relation to applications to develop genetically
modified organisms in containment. She has acted for chemical companies and
assisted at New Zealand Chemical Industry Council seminars in the early days of
the life of the HSNO Act. More recently, Helen presented a paper to the 2nd
Annual ERMA Conference in Wellington on her views of the hearing process that
ERMA has adopted.
Ethical issues
Dr Barbara Nicholas
Dr Barbara Nicholas is a bioethicist, with a background in science and theology.
She has worked as a health policy analyst, researcher in Health Technology
Assessment, and lecturer in bioethics at Otago Medical School. Her recent
research has included empirical and philosophical research on the social and
ethical impact of genetic technology.
This paper was peer reviewed by Prof Donald Evans, Director, Bioethics Centre,
University of Otago.
Public perceptions
Joanna Gamble
Joanna Gamble is a consumer scientist at HortResearch in Auckland. She has a
Masters degree in Psychology, and has worked in consumer and market research
for five years. She currently manages the Foundation for Research, Science and
Technology funded project "Public Perceptions of Transgenic Plants and Plant-
Based Products".
Maori aspects
Bevan Tipene Matua
Bevan Tipene Matua was raised in Porangahau, Hawke's Bay, and is of Ngati
Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu, Ngati Raukawa, and Rangitane descent. In 1994 he
received a research fellowship at Crop and Food Research, Lincoln, while
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completing a masters thesis on the effects on Maori and other indigenous peoples
of the Convention on biological diversity, intellectual property rights and
biotechnology. Bevan has since worked in related areas for government and iwi.
He is currently doing a PhD on the sociocultural perceptions of risk which
focuses on Maori perceptions of genetic engineering. At the time of writing the
background papers, he worked as a Senior Policy Advisor (Maori) for the
Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) and is a lecturer in Maori
Studies at Canterbury University. His views did not reflect ERMA policy. He has
subsequently assisted the Commission in the running of its Maori Consultation
programme workshops.
Environmental aspects
Dr Lin Roberts
Dr Lin Roberts is Director of Business and Environment Consultants in
Christchurch. Her main work area is promoting sustainability in business and
agriculture. She also teaches Masters programmes at Canterbury and Lincoln, and
advises on research strategies. Prior to establishing her consultancy, she was a
Claude McCarthy Fellow at Victoria University (1993­1994), and held various
roles at the Ministry for the Environment (1986­1993). During that time she was
Chair of the Interim Assessment Group for Field Testing and Release of
Genetically Modified Organisms (1989­1990); Chair of the New Organisms
Steering Group (which developed the policy behind the NO part of HSNO), and
Manager in the Ministry for the Environment with responsibility for HSNO
(1991­1993). Before this, Lin was a post-doctoral fellow at Texas A&M University
and a scientist working in biological control, Entomology Division DSIR (1980­
1984).
This paper was peer reviewed by Clare Miller and D M Suckling, HortResearch,
Lincoln.
Economics
Dr Janice Wright
Dr Janice Wright originally trained as a scientist and graduated from the
University of Canterbury as a Senior Scholar in Physics. A developing interest in
policy applications of science led her to the University of California at Berkeley
to study Natural Resource Management with a focus on energy. More recently,
she completed a doctorate in Public Policy at Harvard University, working at the
Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, and completing a dissertation on decision-
making in the environmental and health sectors. Since returning to New Zealand
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two years ago, Dr Wright has worked as an independent policy adviser and
analyst. She is a member of the Independent Biotechnology Advisory Council
(IBAC) and led their project on the economic implications of a first release of a
genetically modified organism for food production.
This paper was peer reviewed by Peter Clough.
Human health aspects
Dr Michael Berridge
Dr Berridge gained a PhD from the University of Auckland in the field of
molecular regulation of plant growth. He gained postdoctoral experience at
Purdue University in the United States investigating gene regulation in early
development and was subsequently employed on the scientific staff at the Medical
Research Council laboratories at Mill Hill, London. He returned to Wellington in
1976 where he established a research programme concerned with molecular
regulation of blood cell development and is presently Acting Director of the
Malaghan Institute. Dr Berridge is secretary of the New Zealand Association of
Scientists.
This paper was peer reviewed by Joanne Dixon, medical geneticist.
The international aspects of genetic
modification
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
This paper was prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington,
in June 2000, in response to a request from the Commission for background
information. It was revised in August 2000 to include a reference to the decision
taken by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council on the labelling of
genetically modified foods. The paper is not a submission. It does not represent a
Ministry or a New Zealand Government view.